UCU uncovers high price of failure to hit REF targets

It would be important to clarify the meaning of Redundancy within UK Employment Law. I copy from the Employment Rights Act 1996, Section 139: "(1) For the purposes of this Act an employee who is dimissed shall be taken to be dismissed by reason of redundancy if the dismissal is wholly or mainly attributable to- (a) the fact that his employer has ceased or intends to cease- (i) to carry on the business for the purposes of which the employee was employed by him, or (ii) to carry on that business in the place where the employee was so employed, or (b) the fact that the requirements of that business- (i) for employees to carry out work of particular kind, or (ii) for employees to carry out work of a particular kind in the place where the employee was empolyed by the empolyer, have ceased or diminished or are expected to cease or diminish." Would it be lawful to be told that "failure to meet their institution’s expectations on producing work for the research excellence framework will lead to redundancy"? I fail to understand.

At a musical celebration of Kavafis in Mexico City the poem below was referred to as "almost anachronistic"; yet I would like to dedicate it to the non-REF-returnable academics in the UK: Addition Whether I am happy or unhappy, it is not my care to examine. But of this have I the joy to be aware that in their immense addition — their detestable addition with the myriad rows of figures, I am not recorded there of the many units one. Of me there is no recognition in their numeration. And this joy suffices my ambition. Translated by John Cavafy (Poems by C. P. Cavafy. Translated, from the Greek, by J. C. Cavafy. Ikaros, 2003)